Mesoamerican and South American Mythologies: Maya, Aztec, IncaHuitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl |
Who were the Aztec mythical heroes? |
Although generally considered deities, two figures in Aztec mythology also play the role of hero, either as culture heroes who teach the people how to live or as archetypal heroes who represent specific qualities associated with what Joseph Campbell calls the universal hero, the “hero with a thousand faces.” These figures are Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, and Huitzilopochtli, the “Hummingbird of the South.”